Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. I was unable to download the book correctly to my Kindle before it was archived and am unable to provide a review. I am cleaning up my Netgalley titles and wanted to share. Thank you again!

Nix grew up on the Temptation which is the ship her father uses while time-traveling. Together they collect maps which can then be used to to visit the time and place shown on the map. Nix’s father is searching for a map that will take him back to Honolulu in 1868 so as to prevent his wife’s death.

The premise of this book sounded exactly like something I would adore, but something about it felt flat. The writing was excellent, but the story was slow. I felt also, that perhaps the author tried to introduce too many characters. There were a handful of supporting characters that were not fully developed but that I would have liked to learn more about.

Finally, the dialogue sometimes came off as stilted and did not always flow evenly.

Eventually I may try a re-read, but for now it just didn’t quite fit for me.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

For Nix, her entire life has been spent on The Temptation. With her father and the other crewmates, they travel the globe, using hand drawn maps to visit far flung sites, across the centuries, and even delving into mythology at times. She was born in Hawaii in 1868, and when her mother died, her father became obsessed with finding a way to return and save his beloved, to the detriment of Nix herself. Now on a hare-brained scheme to recover enough money to buy a map to the correct time, Nix needs to use all of her wits to ensure the safety of herself, and protect her friends.

I’ve had this book on my tbr since 2016, when I was sent a review copy, and for some reason, I just haven’t got around to reading it, until now. I liked the book, don’t get me wrong, but I think that I may have enjoyed it more if I’d read it at the time. The time travelling aspect, and especially the addition of mythology – like 1001 Nights, The Emperor’s Tomb and terracotta army, etc. – was refreshing, but very much similar to another time travelling series I enjoyed. I think part of my issue was with Nix, who I never really warmed too, or liked all that much. For me, she was too blah, and I felt like her character could’ve been so much better, if there was more development. Being a historian, seeing 19th Century Hawaii was lovely, as were all of the places The Temptation travelled to, but I was just left wanting something – nothing I can put my finger on, but still missing. I will be reading the sequel – partially because I want to improve my NG ratio, but also I want to see what happens. Maybe Nix will developed further now she’s at the helm?

Exciting time travel YA fantasy. I found myself swept away by the story and intrigued with what would happen next. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Time travel, history, pirates. What more could be enticing? I think the premise for this book was spot on, but unfortunately for me it fell flat. In places the pacing was a bit slow, and some parts were drawn out to the point where I was losing interest. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and the love triangle didn't catch my interest. If anything it was a little irrelevant and sort of thrown into the plot. More importantly the time travel aspect didn't seem to make much sense, or perhaps I was so disconnected from the plot and characters I didn't follow the process properly. This isn't a bad book, but there definitely needs to be a bit more fleshing out to be done here. The premise is definitely something thats of interest to me and lots of readers.

The Girl From Everywhere follows Nix on her father's ship, as they travel through time trying to get a map that her father can use to go back in time to save her mother. The catch? If he succeeds, Nix and everything she knows and loves will probably disappear. It's a fun concept, and a really unique one at that. Time travelling pirate ships really grab your attention, and Heilig had obviously put a lot of thought and research into it. I really enjoyed the level of detail the story had to it, from the various mythologies that were mentioned, to the lush and vividly painted island of Oahu and its history.

I liked the main character, Nix. It was fun to see her use her wit and determination to solve the problems the crew ran into, and how she interacted with each time period because of her job as ship historian. I found it hard to read some of her scenes with her father, Slate, in them because of their complicated relationship, but it was something I ultimately did learn to appreciate at the end. Kashmir and Blake were excellent side characters too. They both had a level of charm to them; Kash's direct and blinding to go along with his thieving personality, while Blake's was more awkward and honest, to go along with his well meaning and boyish personality. I really loved that they were both love interests for Nix, but it didn't become some sort of competition between them. Sure, they didn't particularly like each other, but they weren't constantly a jerk and neither of them tried to make Nix choose between them, avoiding turning her into some sort of prize.

While I enjoyed the concept and the characters, none of them really made me fall in love with them the way I prefer to have happen when I read, and the writing was sort of hard to follow at times. I felt like it skipped over things and was too vague at times - not during the actual time travel itself (which was explained clearly) - but as the story progressed in one time, I'd find myself having to pause and think about what had just gotten the characters in the position they were in. In contrast, we were given gorgeous, sensuous descriptions of the scene, and then a snippet of what was actually going on with the characters plot wise. I wish the two had been balanced a little more, it would have made enjoying the story a little easier.

Overall, I enjoyed The Girl From Everywhere. What it lacked in certain areas was made up for by it's beautiful descriptions of Hawaii and its culture, and by its uniqueness. If you're a fan of pirates, time travel or a history buff, definitely pick this up. I'm excited to see where the sequel goes.

I’ve had this review copy of The Girl from Everywhere for several years and for that I feel truly terrible! But I think sometimes we are meant to read a book at a particular time and the time for me to read The Girl from Everywhere was now. When I was feeling so bone tired and weary of current YA fantasy books. I needed something refreshing, a reminder of why this is my favourite genre, and why I have stuck with YA for so long. And The Girl from Everywhere was that book.

I’ll be honest, the first chapter was shaky. I’m not a huge fan of books that open on an action scene because I find them jarring. But I pushed through that feeling and continued with the book and I am so glad that I did. The Girl from Everywhere is unique, fun, full of banter, and about finding your family along your journey.

I really liked that The Girl from Everywhere was light on the romance. I love my romance so I’m a little surprised to be writing that but I loved that the relationship between Nix and Kash was about their friendship and supporting each other before anything else. Yes, there are adorable romantic moments when I was just doing the KISS thing at my Kindle, but the fact that they were focussed on the life threatening and life changing things at hand was understandable. I absolutely hope they get together in the sequel to The Girl from Everywhere because I loved their relationship.

The setting was absolutely vivid and real in The Girl from Everywhere and I think that’s because the author lives in Hawaii! While she might not have lived there in the 1800s I think that her connection and familiarity with the country really shone through. The descriptions were lush and beautiful and I wanted to join Nix on her adventures on this beautiful island. I would absolutely love to see more of this Hawaii in the series and I really hope I do!

Alongside the setting and the relationship between Nix and Kash, I think the main theme of The Girl from Everywhere was family. The whole premise of the novel is that Nix’s father is trying to get back to a certain time in history so that he can be with Nix’s mother again. Nix’s conflicted feelings about this were so sad and I just wanted to shake her father into realising that he had wasted the baby years with his daughter by trying to chase something that was over. Nix loves her father but she can’t abide by throwing his and her life away for a pipe dream.

The other people in Nix’s family are those that have joined her father’s crew along the way, and that includes Kash. I think that’s one of the reasons I love them together so much. Because it’s not based on instalove or instalust, but on time spent getting to know each other and care about each other as people and not just romantic interests. I loved it!!

All in all, The Girl from Everywhere was a big, nice surprise and restored my faith in YA fantasy. I absolutely cannot wait to read the sequel, and I really hope I love it as much as this book!

© 2020, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

This time-travel story has my favourite m/f couple for ages in main character Nix, daughter of a pirate who can take his ship to anywhere he has a map of, and love interest Kashmir. The world-building is incredible; I especially loved the way Heilig brought her main setting of 19th century Hawaii to life so well.

When you open the first page of The Girl From Everywhere, Heidi Heilig will put out a guiding hand, inviting you aboard the Temptation, a magical ship that will take you from India to New York to Hawaii, transcending years, centuries, and eras. You’ll meet an amazing crew who are diverse not only in their ethnicity, but also in their personalities and ideas. You’ll meet Nix—a fierce and smart girl with a complicated but bittersweet relationship with her father, and Kashmir—a charming thief who is impossible not to like. You’ll see and experience the most beautiful of places, learn to admire and understand maps, see history through your own eyes and enjoy the best travel experience of your life, all while sitting in one place. In her beautifully written story about time travel and navigation, Heilig masterfully takes the readers through a journey where reality and fantasy blend seamlessly, and delivers an epic tale that will make yearn to actually get on board a ship and travel all over.

DNF @ 30%

This book is really just not for me. I am rather bored by the story and don't care how things work out. I thought that the premise sounded rather clever and it is somewhat unique but there just isn't enough here to make me want to keep going. I think that the narrator did a fine job with her performance of the story.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley and a copy of the audiobook was borrowed from my local library.

I loved this, so interesting as a concept I loved learning about different eras and countries; the stuff about the occupation of Hawaii was really sad. The cast is fab, love all the characters a lot!

I thought this was a fun, adventure book. The heroine was strong, the best parts of the book are when she finds the inner strength to confront her father. The person who inadvertently will wipe her off the map. The description and prose used in this book paint a picture that is alive with color. The far off lands from myth and reality come alive in the pages and in audiobook it sounds like you're living it with them. Following the timelines can be convoluted. It was confusing to ascertain where and when you were or when you jumped forward. However, this book was a lot of fun!

This was a good book. I have nothing bad against it, it just all kind of fell flat for me. The characters were all one dimensional and nothing really happened in the middle part of the book. It was only about 75% in where thing started to happen and it got interesting. I'm still interested to see what happens in the next book, but there's no rush.

To be honest with you I knew the second I hit 'request' on NetGalley this was not a book for me, but I let myself be swayed by all the people on Twitter who hyped this book up and I wanted to be in on the hype as well. Well... it's two years later and I finally decided to own up to my mistakes and pick this book up.

Sadly, like expected this just wasn't for me. I really gave it a fair chance. I read till 25% in the hopes that it could change my mind, but it never did.

Also I was quite thrown by the way the book started. Normally I wouldn't mind if the book started right in a situation, but in this book I was lost. Too many characters at once and too much happening that I couldn't place nor understand.

This book is the very reason why I'm normally not riding the hype wave, because those books never live up to my expectation.

The writing style of this book was ok-ish, didn't keep me hooked or anything, but maybe it's just the content that couldn't keep my interest and not the actual writing.

Rating: DNF

Heilig’s debut novel is inspired by Hawaiian myth and folklore and has an entirely diverse cast with a biracial main character, a Persian love interest, etc. (I’ve completely forgotten about everyone else).

Have I mentioned time traveling is through maps?! If the Hawaiian myth and folklore don't grab you, then the maps definitely should.

3 Stars. I enjoyed this book. I don't read many time travel books, but as her debut novel, I think Heidi did a good job. There were a few missing pieces in the story, but I would still recommend it to anyone who enjoy YA & Time Travel novels.

A beautifuly written start to a new series, full of fun plot lines and characters who will amaze!

I think it is pretty obvious why I requested this book for review.  I took one look at that cover and knew I needed to see what it was all about.  After reading the synopsis that included buzz words like sailing, epic, mythic, imagination, fantastical, etc.  I was all in!

There was something almost gravitational about this story that pulled me in from the very first page…

From 1774 India, to 2016 New York, to 1884 Hawaii, The Girl From Everywhere is a wild adventure that spans time and reality.  Heilig fuses historical fiction and fantasy together drawing inspiration from historical events and folklore, creating such a unique read here.  I was drawn into this action packed story and it held my interest from start to finish.   The Girl From Everywhere is such a fresh new twist on time travel.  I absolutely adored the concept of time traveling through maps.  I don’t know about you all, but this bookworm is a sucker for a good map.  I read an ARC eBook version of this book, so I am not sure what kind of maps are included in the physical copy of this book, but this did not take away from my experience.  Heilig did an amazing job showing us the maps with her words, which I was very impressed by.  She is clearly a talented writer.

I don’t know if the fact that I’ve been into the TV series Black Sails had any influence here or not, but I really enjoyed the descriptions of The Temptation (ironic name for a ship that belongs to a man with an opium addiction) and the details included about the sailing process.  It was definitely giving me the itch to go travel, or “wanderlust.”  This is very ironic since I have severe motion sickness, therefore could never step foot on a sailboat (made that mistake ONCE), but this is why I READ

Speaking of wanderlust, a good portion of this book takes place in 1884 Hawaii.  Can you imagine?  The author actually grew up in Hawaii, so who better to take us there?  Heilig paints such a vivid picture, that I felt like I was actually there.

I know it must seem that this is a “pirate book,” but it really isn’t.   There is no point in the book where the phrases “Walk the plank” or “Ahoy, me Hearties!” come into play, so if pirates are really not your thing, I think you are still safe here.   Sure there is a ship and a crew, but they don’t go about raiding other ships or pillaging ports of call… well, not exactly.   I really didn’t get the pirate vibe here, more like an “adventure” or “treasure hunt” vibe… if that makes any sense.

What a wonderfully diverse cast of characters aboard The Temptaion!  Nix, our leading lady, is half Chinese; Bee, the first mate, is from a tribe in Africa AND a lesbian; Kashmir, deck hand, compulsive thief, and Nix’s best friend, is Persian.  For the life of me I cannot remember what the other crew member, Rotgut, was… Can I get a fact check on that?  Did I mention that this crew was assembled from all different times and places, both real and fictional?

Nix, our main character, was a solid character in my opinion.   Throughout the book Nix goes through a lot of inner turmoil.  All she wants to do is control her own destiny instead of being under her father’s control.  Slate, her father and captain, is so consumed with his obsession in finding Nix’s Mother and his own addictions, that he fails to see his daughter right in front of his face.  I know many people may read this and think “why doesn’t Nix just leave?”  but it isn’t that easy.  At the end of the day, Nix is a girl who desperately wants her father’s approval and attention.

“For a moment, I could pretend I was captain of my own fate.”

A big portion of The Girl From Everywhere is the strained relationship between Nix and her father.  Nix struggles with her sense of duty to her father, but if he is successful in his endeavors, he could end up erasing her from existence.  Side note: Did anyone else find it ironic that the main character’s name was Nix?  In the English language, “nix” can mean nothing (noun) or to reject (verb).  I thought it was clever because if her father basically spends the whole book rejecting her and if he succeeds in stopping her mother’s death, Nix may cease to exist, thus becoming nothing.   Maybe it was just a coincidence, but I don’t think so.  Anyways!  I enjoyed watching the developing relationship between father and daughter, as well as the personal growth in each of them throughout the book.  I can also say that I was satisfied with how it all panned out.

“Sometimes a person has to let go of something to take hold of something else.”

Let’s talk about my favorite character, Kash.  I call dibs on Kash as my new book boyfriend.  Even though Kash has questionable morals, he was so witty and clever.  The friendship between Kash and Nix is everything.  It is clear he worships the ground that Nix walks on, but she is too scared to leave the “friend zone.”  Well that, plus her father’s obsession to find Nix’s mother regardless of the consequences has given Nix a bit of a complex…

“Love?  The word was bitter as hemlock.  It’s just another addiction.”

I appreciated that the romance was secondary to the main plot line, instead of the main focus like in so many YA books I’ve read.  The romance enhances the plot, without taking away from it.

As much as I enjoyed this story, it was not perfect.  There was a time or two where I felt like some of the fantasy elements were introduced to solve a problem and it seemed a little too convenient.  Furthermore there was one “mini quest” that felt a little disjointed from the rest of the book.  This isn’t to say that this part of the book was not well done, just that it felt a little out of place… It’s hard to describe.  I also would have liked to get to know both Bee and Rotgut, the other members of the crew, a little better.  What little glimpses we get, they seem like such interesting characters.  I hope we will get more into their back stories in the next installment of this series.  HOWEVER my biggest issue with The Girl From Everywhere comes in the form of a love triangle.   Ugh! Why?!  It was completely unnecessary.  I will say that the love triangle isn’t the most annoying one I’ve read, so it did not hinder me overmuch in my enjoyment of this book.  I do think the book would have been much stronger without it.

If you do get the chance to pick this one up, I encourage you to read the author’s notes at the end as they are packed with interesting info.  Heilig did a lot of research to write The Girl From Everywhere, and talks about some of the historical events that she based the book off of as well as the fairytales and myths included in the book.  I was fascinated in the politics of the Hawaiian monarchy and the ultimate overthrow of the monarchy that was spearheaded by the Hawaiian League, a group who worked towards the annexation of Hawaii to the United States.  I’m a sucker for little known history.

I will definitely be continuing on with the sequel, The Ship Beyond Time, which is expected to release on February 28, 2017.

*Big thanks to Bonnier Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Nix lives a very unique life. As long as her father has a map, he can sail his ship to any place or time, real or imagined. Can you imagine the possibilities? Traveling to anywhere in the world, visiting your favorite fictional lands. Sounds absolutely amazing.

I'll be honest...when I first read The Girl from Everywhere, I enjoyed it. Was it life-changing? No. But it was a fun, quick read that let me escape from the real world for a bit. It was well-written and a fun story. But when I took a step back and started looking at this book critically, there were a lot of places where it fell flat.

This book had so much hype around it when it first released, and I have to admit, I was really excited for it. I was so excited to travel the world (and the fictional world) with Nix and the crew of her father's ship. But unfortunately, I didn't get the adventure that I was hoping for. The majority of the book took place in Hawaii, which is an awesome setting, but not what I had been led to believe was waiting for me. There was very little time spent in other lands. There were only a couple chapters spent in India, China, and modern-day New York. We spent a lot of time in Hawaii, and although it was awesome to read about a place that isn't often discussed in YA literature, there was one very important thing missing.....the Hawaiians! I understand that the book is about the daughter of an immigrant to Hawaii, but seriously, there were barely any actual Hawaiian natives in the story. How can a book take place in one place and not include any natives to that area??? I feel like that was such a missed opportunity because Hawaii has such an interesting history and rich culture.

I didn't feel very connected to Nix as a character, but I actually really enjoyed the supporting characters. Kashmir was amazing and I would have loved to learn more about him. I would definitely read a story just dedicated to his backstory. The rag-tag crew on the ship was also made up of other people from various times, places, and fictional worlds. I wish so much that we had been able to learn more about their stories. They were a really cool group, but they weren't developed as much as they could have been.

One other thing that I found a little annoying was the magic(?) system. I personally don't like unanswered questions, so this might not bother you if you are ok with that. But there wasn't really any explanation of why Nix's father can travel via map, or how it works, or if it is even magic or something else. I would have liked to learn more about Navigators, but I never got any answers. Perhaps these questions will be addressed in the next book? I probably won't ever find out.

Honestly, if I had read this series when the second book was already published and I could marathon them, maybe I would have continued on with Nix's story. But the next book won't be out for a while and I am already starting to forget a lot of details about the book. While I enjoyed The Girl from Everywhere while I was reading it, I don't feel connected to the characters or the story and I don't think I will pick up the next book.

A strange book that never quite coalesces into what it promises to be. Some things were fantastic, the ideas were intriguing and I liked the characters, but the plot just seemed to not quite know where it wanted to go and what it wanted to be. I had hoped to see more use of the primary element of the plot (the time travelling), but instead we discover a fairly typical YA novel with the usual romance. Slightly disappointing, but a good read nevertheless.